Legends+of+Guanajuato

 == =Legends of Guanajuato= Mónica Gonzalez-Perez monicagp9972@gmail.com = = = = =Instructional Objective= = = Learners will construct their identity through written and oral Mexican culture. They will also reinforce their knowledge of popular literary structures, namely: legends, songs, proverbs and riddles. =Learners & Context of Use= This game has been designed for adult Mexican students, residing in the U.S.A., who belong to // Casas Guanajuato // (Cultural Centers implemented a generation ago by the Guanajuato State Government in order to support up to three million // paisanos // –migrants) in Texas, California, Illinois, etc., and who are also enrolled in the High School program at the // Universidad Virtual del Estado de Guanajuato //. (The game could also be played more generally among families and friends within Mexico).

Students enrolled in // Casas Guanajuato // probably had not finished their basic education when they migrated, which means that their Spanish literacy skills are rudimentary. They also have limited Mexican identity due to the fact that they may not have been exposed to the richness of their cultural heritage. This game therefore enables them to engage in cultural aspects of Mexican life which they missed out on.

The game will be used in // Casas Guanajuato //, where they will have the opportunity to socialize with other // paisanos //. Prior to the game they will discuss with the teacher and classmates aspects of Mexican Popular Culture with which they are familiar, particularly songs, legends, proverbs and riddles, where possible from the State of Guanajuato, which they learnt from their parents or in their homeland in earlier life. As Mexicans love singing and dancing, it could be expected that the game’s songs and legends provide the inspiration for an after game group leisure activity, ie. story telling or singsong.

=Competing products= There are a number of compendiums of Mexican legends, songs, proverbs and riddles, often for children’s educational purposes, but there is virtually nothing which is custom-made for fostering homeland identity among Mexican adult migrants in the U.S.A. More generally, there appears to be little in the way of board games based on literary products in Mexico. However, two examples of culture based games are 1) //Visitando Guanajuato// (Visiting Guanajuato) a monopoly type board game which shares our objective of reinforcing cultural knowledge of the State in a fun based context and 2) //Lotería// (Lottery) a game which requires the reproduction of riddles. //Visitando Guanajuato// is not sold commercially. It was in fact produced by an architect friend to be used in the //Casas de Cultura// (cultural centers), which are present in most if not all of the 46 municipalities which make up the State of Guanajuato (refer below to Design Process). =Object of the Game= This game can be played by 2 to 4 players or teams. A referee (teacher) is also recommended, although not strictly necessary, in order to approve the literary products assembled and ask the complementary questions (see below). Each player represents a character of Guanajuato legend, namely: 1) //La Llorona (The Whining Women who lost her children) 2)// //El Pipila (a legendary Guanajuato Mexican Independence revolutionary who supposedly broke down an impenetrable fortress door single handed)) 3)// //El Cantador// (A miner who used to sing in the mine shafts and who has a square named after him) and, 4) //La Momía// (The Mummy, an example of cholera victims who were buried and preserved almost perfectly because of the high mineral content of local soil.) The object is for each character to compile the largest collection of literary products which include legends, songs, proverbs and riddles, and successfully answer complementary question, per product.

=Content Analysis=

=Game Materials=

A pack of 260 cards, instead of four suits, there are four literary products: Legends: 100 cards with illustrations of 20 legends, 5 cards per lengend. Songs: 80 cards with verses of 20 songs, one verse per card. Proverbs: 40 cards with 20 proverbs, one half of a proverb per card. Riddles: 40 cards with 20 riddles, one half of a riddle per card. || == || .  || Booklet with all the information regarding the four literary products included in the cards, including complementary questions || Each card contains a part of a legend, song, proverb or riddle. Five picture scenes complete a legend; five verse cards complete a song; two sentence cards complete a proverb; and one sentence card, plus a picture card complete a riddle. A complete game narrative booklet contains complete versions of the legends, songs, proverbs and riddles, together with complementary (geographical, historical, or cultural) questions and answers.
 * =**Board**= || =[[image:tablero_fin.jpg width="345" height="345"]]= ||
 * =**Cards**=
 * The players can use coins or beans. || Tokens for each of the literary products, brown for a legend, green for a song, orange for a proverb and purple for a riddle ||

Version to print


 * [[file:acertijos.pdf]] ||  ||
 * [[file:proverbs.pdf]] ||  ||
 * [[file:songs.pdf]] ||  ||
 * [[file:legends.pdf]] ||  ||
 * Board || [|1[1.pdf]] ||

The scoring of completed literary products is as follows: Each player places tokens won in her or his token panel, which contains spaces for 5 of each of the literary products.
 * Literary Products || Points Token ||
 * Legends || 5 ||
 * Songs || 3 ||
 * Proverbs || 2 ||
 * Riddle || 1 ||

=Time Required= = = The complete 280 card version of the game, which contains 20 examples of each literary product and requires each player to assemble 5 examples of each literary product, is a leisurely 2 to 3 hour activity. The game can be shortened to under 1 hour, by: 1) eliminating legends, songs, proverbs and riddles from the pack, or/and 2) reducing the corresponding number of examples of each literary product which the players must complete. **The shortest game version requires 88 cards, which complete 4 legends, 4 songs, 12 proverbs and 12 riddles, and requires each player to assemble 1 legend, 1 song, 3 proverbs and 3 riddles**. An advantage of the shortened versions is that the game may be repeated with novelty value, taking into account that there will be different combinations of legends, songs, proverbs and riddles selected in each game session. Time can also be used prior to or after playing the game in order to learn the legends, songs, proverbs and riddles, as the case may be. =The Rules= 1.-Each of the 2 to 4 players possesses ten cards at any one time, which means that she or he can simultaneously construct distinct combinations of legends, songs, proverbs and riddles.

2.-The game proceeds in a circular fashion.

3.-Each player takes a turn, in which she or he takes a card, either undisclosed from the top of the pack, or the last card to be discarded and disclosed by a player at a previous turn.

4.-As she or he completes the literary products, they must be placed in the correct order on the board displayer for all (or the referee) to inspect and approve. 5. The booklet should be used as reference for the rest of the players who must approve the literary product displayed on the board. 6. However, in order to credit the product, the player must complete a literature product specific task-based procedure. // A //**// legend //**// requires that a player collects the five cards which display key picture scenes of the legend, in the correct order. In order to credit the legend, the player must: 1) tell the legend 2) name the place from which the legend originated and 3) disclose the historical era in which the legend was created. There is a token which is equal to //**// five //**// points for each complete legend. //

// A //**// song //**// requires that a player collects the five cards which display the song, in the correct order. In order to credit the points, the player must: 1) sing the song 2) name the singer who made the song famous and 3) disclose the song genre (bolero, ranchero, etc.). There is a token which is equal to **t** //**// hree //**// points for each complete song //.

A //** proverb **// requires that a player collects the two cards which display the proverb. In order to credit the proverb, the player must: 1) explain what it means (in her or his own words, but not those of the proverb) and 2) provide a real-life context for its use. There is a token which is equal to two ** points ** for each complete proverb.

A //** riddle **// requires that a player collects the two cards which display the riddle. In order to credit the riddle, the player must: 1) repeat the riddle correctly. There is a token which is equal to ** one ** point for each completed riddle.

7. If the literary product and complementary questions are successfully completed, the player receives a token which she or he places in her token panel in the correct row corresponding to legends, songs, proverbs or riddles. 8.- Failure to correctly complete the entire task-results in zero points and the cards returning to the back of the pack for reuse. 9.- Once the literature product has been examined by the group of the players, it is taken off the displayer, to make space for subsequent literary products. 10.-Replacement cards are picked up to replace the completed literary products, so that the player replenishes her or his ten card hand.

11.-The game finishes when the game produces a winner, which is the player who manages to successfully assemble the complete set of tokens in her or his token panel, namely 5 legends, 5 songs, 5 riddles and 5 proverbs. (Shorter versions of the game require completing fewer literary products. The shortest version requires just 1 legend, 1 song, 3 proverbs and 3 riddles.) = = =Motivational Issues= The game motivates the player by her or his desire to reinforce homeland identity, by flagging up strong shared cultural images for learning and future use within a Mexican context (party, reunion, discussion, etc.). Further impetus or challenge is provided by constructing the literary products secretly before public disclosure. The complementary literary product tasks provide further fun-based inspiration via story telling, singing and answers to specific questions concerning cultural knowledge. . = = =Design Process= I initially thought of designing a sophisticated strategy or role play game. I visited toys shops to analyze what was in the Mexican market and I realized that there was much less board game culture in my country than in the U.S. and Europe. I realized that I have played few board games, so I decided to develop one which was relatively simple and relevant to that of my target audience. The subject matter was selected with reference to a migrant homeland identity reinforcement objective, within the context of a distance learning High School program, running on line from the State of Guanajuato and interfacing with // Casas Guanajuato // installations operating in various cities in the U.S. Cultural identity in a migrant context was then located via the selection of literary products: legends, songs, proverbs and riddles, with particular reference, where possible, to those from the State of Guanajuato. Migrants may have partial recall of these products, which increases their appeal. They are also intrinsically fun, interesting and education by their very construct. The completion of the literary products in the game context involves combining pictures and texts, and sharing story telling and singing skills. In order to enable subject matter learning, the game rules enable the completion of legends, songs, proverbs and riddles, which can be learnt prior to or after playing the game, in different virtual classroom or homework contexts. With the idea of producing something related to identity reinforcement I visited a friend who designed a board game for the Cultural Institute and the Education Secretary, both of the State Government of Guanajuato. It was a Monopoly type of game named //Visiting Guanajuato//, in which players are tourists and can become the cultural custodians of each municipality they visit in the state. Although I did not want to use the concept of a Monopoly type game, I decided to use cards to evoke local oral traditions from the town of Guanajuato (legends), and from Mexico more generally (songs, proverbs and riddles). To flesh out the idea of Legends of Guanajuato, I talked to my husband about a game in which players complete proverbs and sayings from Guanajuato. As I received feedback from him I realized Mexico has a very rich oral tradition. I therefore set about designing something which included various forms of popular literature from Guanajuato. I decided to design this game without course colleagues for two reasons: 1) As I fell for the idea of using Guanajuato oral traditions, there was less chance of finding a U.S. partner who would be interested in the subject matter. 2) For logistics reasons related to my work schedule, my job does not allow me study flexibility to meet up virtually with partners. I therefore work at night, early in the morning before work or at weekends. However, I have discussed the game with my husband, friends and some work colleagues, who are teachers or educational technologists. That has provided a collaborative and fun aspect to this task which I had not contemplated at the beginning, but which is very much in line with this collaborative type task. In other words, I have ended up forming an impromptu group composed of historians and literary specialists, teachers, and educationalists. I have learnt the following lessons. In order to design a game: 1) it is mandatory to experience a similar type of game as a player 2) it is necessary to think of the objective context right from the beginning, from which the game type and rules will naturally roll out of, rather than visa versa 3) it is helpful to bounce ideas around with different people in order to clarify the logic of the game and enrich the material.

=References=

Bentancourt, T., (1996). El Refrán su estructura y sabiduría. Ediciones La Rana. Burstin Campos, M.,, Leyendas de Guanajuato, STAMPART. Del Paso, F., (2007), Encuentra en Cada Cara lo que Tiene de Rara, CIDCLI, S.C. Del Paso, F., (2007), Hay Naranjas y Hay Limones, CIDCLI, S.C.  Guzman N., (2002), Sociedad y Desarrollo en México, Ediciones Castillo. Thompson, J., (2007), Game Design, Principles, Practice, and Techniques – The Ultimate Guide for the Aspiring Game Designer, Quarto Publishing Inc.